2nd Heart Surgery Today…March 26th, 2013

It’s been a long and crazy week for sure and this coming week is going to be more of the same. Jonah went back in the OR about an hour ago as I type this, and they’ll be getting started with the procedure soon by getting all his lines in and prepping him for the surgery.

Last Monday Jonah’s oxygen saturations dropped so I took him into the ER. He ended up getting admitted and what was found was that extra fluid from his heart was backing up into his lungs. They put him on lasix and that helped a lot. By Friday he seemed to be back to normal and was able to be taken off of oxygen during the day.

We have been planning for his follow-up surgery to be some time in May, but that all changed with this ER visit. We were told he would be staying in the hospital until his surgery, but the surgeon was out on vacation so they couldn’t lock down a date for the surgery so we we’re able to get home for a few days.

On Monday morning I got the call telling me his surgery was scheduled for tomorrow morning. His pre-op appointment was set up for that day so the wheels began to turn…quickly. Began getting everything in order at work and home so Monday was a busy day indeed. On top of that Zeke has been sick the past 3 days so we had to keep him away from Jonah and tend to him.

Instead of having months to dwell on the upcoming surgery God had other plans and laid it in our laps where I didn’t have time to worry about tomorrow as I had to stay focused on today.

We’ve been in quarantine for months keeping Jonah away from human contact as much as possible, so it has been a tough season (as have been the last 8 seasons) for us for sure.

In terms of the specifics of the surgery today, this is a follow-up surgery that we were aware was going to be necessary since he had his first surgery in July of 2011. Because they couldn’t completely repair the valve, it was leaking moderately we were told it would be necessary, but may be 5 years or more down the road. During our bi-annual visit with Jonah’s cardiologist in January we found out the lower left chamber in his heart had begun to enlarge, which is the key indicator as to when this surgery was needed.

Today they will try to repair the valve using the his own tissue from the same valve. They will have to open him up again and put him on by-pass then stitch up the leaky valve. If the valve still leaks after the repair they will have to put in an artificial valve which would bring other future issues near and far into play. Our prayer is they will be able to repair it with the God-given tissue that he already has. They said in 75-80% of cases they are able to use the patients tissue.

The surgeon just stopped by and said it will take him about 3 hours to perform the repair, so Jonah will be in the OR for about 4-6 hours with all the pre and post surgery work that needs to be done.

God is so good and I put all my faith and trust in Him! I just opened up my bible and it opened to Matthew chapter 18. I have one verse underlined on the 2 pages I’m on which is Matthew 18:14 which says: “So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.” I am putting my faith and trust in Him today.

If you are reading this today (3/26/2013) which Jonah is 23 months old today…please lift up Jonah in prayer today, his surgery is about to get underway.

I will try to keep updates via this blog updating throughout the day.

Here are a some recent pictures of Jonah if you haven’t laid eyes on him in a while:

God bless you all!

Jonah last week in the hospital

Jonah getting some out of the bed time in the Hospital sanctuary

Only a thin piece of glass is separating me from the great outdoors

Jonah this morning listening to some music

Chapped lips and all it’s time to get my heart fixed!

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

3 comments on “2nd Heart Surgery Today…March 26th, 2013”

Sheryl Chandler

March 26, 2013

Dan & Joyce,
12 yr old Nathan and I just said prayers for little Jonah…andfor you all. We are praying that God holds the surgeons hands in His own, and guides and directs them. We are praying that the doctors will be able to use Jonah’s own tissues. We are praying for total healing and wholeness. And we are praying for YOUR peace and comfort. May God flood you with His presence and His peace.

You are in my prayers that Jonah has grown so much I pray the Drs have the hands of Christ leading them and You have Jesus arms around you and Joyce as well i know the God is watching you all and gives peace and strength Love Michelle

I’m lifting your precious little Jonah up in prayer to the Great Physician who loves Him more than we can imagine. I’m praying for successful surgery and for strength and comfort for you and your family